My Books of 2025

Looking back at my reading list, 2025 was an underwhelming year.  I did not read any stand-out books to recommend, and for some reason, I took the challenge to read some really thick books, and some of them I struggled to finish.  I also did not chance across really good quality fiction, which was also disappointing.  Like many reading lists, the books that I read this year were not necessarily published in 2025.  They come from across time.  To improve the quality of this list, I have chosen to include my best 3 non-fiction and fiction from 2024/25.

Fiction

Politics on the Edge, Rory Stewart (2024).  This is a political memoire from an Ex Conservative Cabinet Minister who fought the leadership campaign to save the Conservative Party, which eventually swung right, elected Boris Johnson, which led to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak being PM, and a total defeat for the Conservative Party in the 2024 General Election.   I have followed British Politics since the time I was in University and did Political Science.  I share many of Rory's observations, and benefit from understanding the key question we all would like answered - why the British Parliamentary system may not elect the best leaders for the country.  

Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe (2018).  This is a masterpiece of investigative journalism produced by an American on the Troubles in Northern Ireland.  Keefe tells the story of the abduction of Jean McConville by paramilitary groups, to the conviction of the infamous Dolours sisters who bombed London. Anyone wanting to understand why the divisions in Northern Ireland was/is so acute needs to read this.  The injustice and ineptitude of the British Army and Government, and crimes committed by both sides remain major contributory factors.  A TV Series of the same name was released in 2024 on FX.  This is completely based on the book.  The production is one of the highest rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for and won a series of awards.  

Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson (2023).  Walter Isaacson is an award-winning biographer, and his work on Elon Musk is detailed and well researched.  Love him or hate him, Elon Musk is an outlier and a maverick, and because of his tenacity has achieved things that few can even dream of, including building the only private venture that has successfully sent a reusable space craft to space in his bid to colonise Mars.   This book tells his story from multiple angles - his life in South Africa, his many relationships with women, his many children, his adventures with Pay Pal, Tesla and Space X amongst others.  This was published before Musk threw his backing for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election, so his political adventures remain a missing hole.  There will no doubt be a few more chapters to be written in a future Musk biography.  

Fiction

The Shadow of War, Jeff Shaara (2024).  Writing on events more than half a century ago, Jeff Shaara, a prize-winning author of historical fiction spins a plausible story of events leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The characters are all based on history.  It focuses on Kennedy and Khrushchev, who are caught in a dynamic that drove both the USA and USSR to the brink of nuclear war.  It also shows the leadership that allowed level headedness to prevail, so that both nations could avoid Armageddon.  This is a must read for politicians, military leaders, strategists, and foreign policy practitioners.   

The Women, Kristin Hannah (2024).  This was my first time reading a Kristin Hannah book and it was magnificent.  This story is about an idealistic young woman from the establishment, who chooses to do her duty and head off to 1960s Vietnam in the service of her country.  She volunteers to be a combat nurse on the front line and eventually gets sucked in to go beyond her tour of duty. In spite of the sacrifices, the women involved struggle to both get recognition from their peers in uniform, and from civilians back home.  Like the men, she returns home to an ungrateful America. The rights of this book has been bought by Warner Brothers and anticipate this to be in theaters before too long.  

We Solve Murders, Richard Osman (2024).  BBC personality Richard Osman has reinvented himself as an author and this is his fifth book.  His first, Thursday Murder Club, has been made into a Netflix movie starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley.   This will not win Pulitzer Prizes, but Osman has a knack of writing.  I love his work.  This is breezy story about a private investigation agency with a young lady who offers protection written with British humour  Its totally fun.  

Best Movies of 2025

I watched over 100 movies/series in 2025.  While most were entertaining, these were the three that were the top for me.   

The first was the 2024 award-winning television drama series “Shogun”. Based on the 1975 James Clavell novel, this TV remake was created by husband-and-wife pair Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo.  It was perfect.  Shogun relates the story of a British sailor, John Blackthorne, who in desperation seeks refuge in Edo Japan, and who gets entangled in the power play that is taking place amongst the Daimos following the death of the Taiko.  1600 Japan is no place for the faint hearted.  The movie is shot in both English and Japanese.  The cinematography, the screenplay and the story telling, and the acting was gripping.  I found myself hooked and given that I did not previously read the book, consumed the series in four sittings.  It was a masterpiece.  This critically acclaimed series won 14 awards at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, setting the record as the most awarded single season of television in Emmy history.  It also received four Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series (Drama), Best Actor in a Television Series (Hiroyuki Sanada), Best Supporting Actor on Television (Tadanobu Asano) and Best Actress in a Television Series Drama (Anna Sawai).   

The second was coincidentally also a Japanese Adult themed television series called "Blue Eyed Samurai", also set in the Edo period.   It was also coincidentally, created by a husband-and-wife team of Michael Green and Amber Noizumi,  This tracks the fortune of a mixed raced warrior, Mizu, who seeks vengeance against four white men, one of whom is her father, who illegally remained in the Tokugawa shogunate after the closing of Japan's borders.  Across the series, the viewer starts to develop an attachment to Mizu, given the discrimination she has sustained being born a child of mixed race.  The series developed such critical acclaim, the Netflix has commissioned a second season which will be put out in 2026.  This fully animated series won a series of awards, including Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

The third and final production was a slightly quirky Mike Flanagan movie called "Life of Chuck".  This
is based on the 2020 Stephen King book, and is done in three acts, all of which could function as a standalone story, but always featuring a guy called Chuck. Because of its quirky and deep philosophical nature, it works for some, and not for others.  Nevertheless, most on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very positive showing, and The Boston Globe, USA Today and The Washington Post named this the "Best Movie of 2025".    

Sa Pa - a Northern Getaway

Vietnam is a mountainous country, and when the French colonized it, it promptly went about building mountain retreats to allow the elites to escape the humid tropical climes that predominates most of the country.  Sa Pa is the best-known mountain getaway in the North, with Dalat being the one in the South.  I have asked my Vietnamese friends which was better.  The reply was "it depends", clearly conveying that there are differences in the offering.  Having been to Dalat in earlier in the year, I made the long journey to Sa Pa at year end - this time with the family - with a desire to answer that question for myself over the two gems of Vietnam.  

In general, in terms of tourist infrastructure, Sa Pa is far less developed.  This is somewhat linked to its history. Throughout the bloody conflicts that Vietnam has had in the 20th century, the hill resort of Dalat in the south remained an oasis of peace.  The base infrastructure, including the airport, the railway station, the golf courses and villas, remained intact.  The location was always used by the powers that be as a retreat.  Sa Pa in contrast was completely destroyed twice.  The first was during the First Indochina War which pitted the Viet Minh against the French, and the second during the brief Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979, when Sa Pa was part of the area that was invaded by the Chinese.  Sa Pa was abandoned completely until the 1990s when the Vietnamese government agreed to have it developed as a tourist resort again.  There were reportedly only 40 hotel rooms at that time.  Today, Sa Pa has thousands of hotel rooms with new ones being added all the time.  But it still has a lot of catching up to do. The nearest golf course is in Lao Cai.  Dalat already has three golf courses.  It is also not surprising that the population of Dalat (400K) is more than four times that of Sa Pa (90K). 

Sa Pa is also more remote than Dalat.  It takes about 45 minutes to get to Dalat by flight from Ho Chi Minh City.  But the only way to access Sa Pa is by road.  Hanoi is 300km away.  There are two options.  The first is to take a train from Hanoi to the nearest large town from Sa Pa called Lao Cai.  This is the border town adjacent to the Chinese city of Hekou, Yunnan Province - I stopped by to just enjoy the view of the border.  From here, you have to hop on a vehicle to get to Sa Pa, which can cost as low as USD2 using a bus, and around USD20 for a taxi.   

The alternative is to catch a bus or a car direct from Hanoi. I had expected a difficult journey.  But the trip was actually pleasantly smooth, for once you are out of Hanoi, it's a highway all the way till Lao Cai.  A friend of mine took a sleeper bus which I thought was a good option.  This cost about USD18 each way.  But he did not quite like it.  As he also travelled with his family, he felt that everyone was separated into their own compartment and there was no interaction along the way.  He also felt uncomfortably having to lie down all the way.  As such, I chose the more expensive option of chartering a van which could take 8 people and allowed us to chat and listen to music together.  This cost around USD400 return, or around USD25 per person each way.  The benefit of this is that the vehicle will pick you from anywhere in Hanoi and drop you anywhere in Sapa at a time of your choosing.   So that saves the hassle of more transfers.

There was also the question as to whether an overnighter was worthwhile.  I think not.  Firstly, the five-hour journey is too short for one to have a good night sleep.  Furthermore, you will have to step off the vehicle on the two rest stops along the way - I think this was more for the driver than for the passengers.  So, the interrupted nap is not worth it.  Secondly, the scenery along the way is worth it.    For some portion, the road hugs a giant lake and the Red River.  This lends to views of terraces and farmland.  Lastly, arriving in the afternoon allows you to check in the hotel immediately, instead of being stranded for a number of hours.  

The second main difference is the climate.  Both Sa Pa and Dalat sit around 1500m above sea level, with Sa Pa being slightly cooler in winter as it is 1700km to the north.  But the main difference is geographical.  Sa Pa sits in a valley between two high ranges and the landscape forces clouds to be trapped within the city.  And this can be really thick fog, with visibility reduced down to 20 to 30m.    Google says that Sa Pa is foggy 137 days a year, with highest prevalence during the winter months.  In fact, I smiled when I saw a landmark in Sa Pa declaring it to be the "City of Fog".  In the five days I was there in December, the fog did not lift until the last day.  Some regard the fogginess as the "charm" of Sa Pa, which is true to an extent.  But it is nice to have sunlight bathe the city as well.  

The third main difference is the people.  Sa Pa is in an indigenous area of the country, with most of the people there from the ethnic Hmong, Dao, Tay and Giay tribes.   This is very noticeable.  This influences the food, which is more atypical.   It also influences their dressing.  Indigenous people are generally smaller than the average Vietnamese, less cosmopolitan, but certainly very polite.  One of the main tourist attractions in Sa Pa is an indigenous area called "Cat Cat Village" which is seated on a valley with waterfalls on both ends.  Completely commercialized, but still worth a visit.  It is one of the most instagrammed place in Sa Pa.   

The last is that Sa Pa is more adventure seeking while Dalat is more chill, although there is no doubt you can get both experiences in either place.  Many of the attractions in Sa Pa involve climbing to high places and breaking out of the cloud base in Sa Pa so that you see clear blue skies.  The major one is Fansipan, which is a transliteration of Phan Si Phan, the highest peak in Indochina standing at 3147m (10326 feet).  For most, the adventure includes taking the longest tri-lined cable car in the world at 6.3km, and the highest elevation distance between stations - 1410m.  It also includes 600 step climb to the peak from the cable car station, which at that altitude, requires some degree of fitness.  (Tip: skip the funicular ride from town and go straight to the cable car station by taxi.  Also skip the funicular ride at the top which will cost you USD6.  The total cost for the Cable Car ride is USD35 per person for the round trip.)  There is also an option to embark on a 2-3 day trek to climb from the base to the peak.  This includes an overnight stay in a barren hut.  Some people do this.  

The second is Rong May Glass Bridge which is 2300m over sea level.    This is a man-made construction at the edge of a cliff 300m over the valley floor.  It actually sits opposite Fansipan - you can see it clearly from here.  This is the second longest glass bridge in the world stretching over 600m long, and people go there for the thrill of both getting the feeling of being above the clouds, and for doing thrill activities including doing a flying fox at height, crossing a rope bridge at height, or sitting on a swing into the beyond.  Its USD20 or so for an entry, and about USD6 for every other activity.   Rong May is around 16km outside Sa Pa, but it brings you pass the O Quy Ho pass which is beautiful and has waterfalls and other vantage points.  I went out here on motorbike, but taking the taxi should not be a problem.  

Granted that Dalat also has its share of peaks, and daredevil activities, and Sa Pa would also have chill activities, in general, I would say that, by and large Dalat is better known for its cafes, its restaurants, its flower gardens and vegetable farms, while Sa Pa more for mountain climbs and views.  

Today, both have a reasonable tourist infrastructure, with many hotels, resorts and restaurants.  You are able to get around both with taxis and hired cars which remain very affordable.  And there are surely many more interesting things to do.  Its one of the special places in the world to be.